From the nostalgic days of presenting authentically South African stories as a part of the iconic trio Teargas, to reshaping the landscape of Mzansi hip-hop during its golden age with the Skhanda sound alongside record producer Lunatik, Ntokozo Mdluli, otherwise known as K.O, has gracefully ridden the crests of success and weathered the troughs of uncertain times to build a healthy career verging on two decades of activity. Boasting an enviable catalogue gilt with local and international plaudits as well as commercial viability, the Skhanda Gawd has evolved from merely being a bar-heavy lyricist, fining his craft and eventually becoming a genre-blending phenom capable of spawning wide-reaching hits such as his 2022 banger, “SETE”.
Beyond adapting and keeping in step with the fast-moving times of a ruthless industry, the legendary rapper’s staying power has been preserved in his abilities to retain the shine of his pen and to be a mirror and a mouthpiece which faithfully reflect the South Ah environment, its moods and its essence.
Back with his latest offering titled Phara City, Mpumalanga’s shining native spared a minute for conversation, graciously sacrificing some time from his morning routine to talk about the album and the making behind the opus.
K.O | SUPPLIED
Originally, the BET Award-nominated wordsmith was set to drop a project titled I Think You Spoke Too Soon, a concept he would later scrap in favour of Phara City.
“With this one, I woke up one day in the middle of the other body of work, the first version of the album I was working on [I Think You Spoke Too Soon] last year, and I just felt like something wasn’t aligning in terms of the messaging I wanted to put out there. I wanted to sort of reel myself back in creatively and create an album with a purpose. I always try to make my albums like that, to make them cohesive. Because I had a couple of decent songs – great songs – but I always felt like there wasn’t a tying thread throughout those records.
“Then I woke up closer towards the release date last year and decided to hit reset to put together something that I felt would resonate with the people the most. That’s where the title of the album hit me, and it was also the same time I recorded “Push It” back in December 2024. That’s where I started building things,” he said.
K.O | SUPPLIED
With the surgency of amapiano from the late 2010s to the early 2020s, the maintained success of afropop in South Africa and the global takeover of afrobeats, K.O acknowledged that his latest album was not only him going against the grain but also serving classic rap music for purists who still delighted in the traditional way of doing things.
“I think what’s different about me when it comes to this album is the musicality and my willingness to take more risks. With this one, people will be hearing a lot of the old-school, vintage K.O, because I made it as a very hip-hop-facing album. In it, there’s a lot of rapping. And it’s not just me rapping because I can but doing it at a very high level, despite the climate we’re in right now musically where a lot of people are leaning towards amapiano and everything else. So, the album is meant to be a piece for anyone looking for a reset amid the amapiano wave or afrobeats or whatever else is popping out there, for those people who are still looking for recent raw raps without having to go digging through old AKA and Prokid albums to fill that appetite. That was the direction I was going for with Phara City,” K.O said.
Check out “Pharadise”:
Whether he’s taking deep dives with incisive social commentary as on his verse on Teargas’s “Paradise” or sandwiching humorous political shade between his bars as heard on his diss song “Forecast 23” two years ago, Mdluli has lived up to his self-proclaimed epithet as “K.O Malema” – as he dubbed himself in 2012 – for being unafraid and bold with his lyrics. Leaning strong on that pure energy of honesty, K.O revealed that his album was made especially with South Africans in mind and by remaining mindful of country-specific social and political woes.
“I went with the name “Phara City” because I am a product of my environment, and I create based on the environment itself. That’s the reason I switched up from what I had created initially because I felt like I wasn’t basing the previous album on the environment but on myself instead. And knowing the type of people we are as a country, we want to feel accommodated, and the messaging needs to feel like, ‘Hey! Those are my words!’ Even when someone else is saying those words, it has to cut so deep that the average person can see themselves saying those same words.
“We are going through a tumultuous time as a country, and everything is in disarray. Not only from a political standpoint but also a sociopolitical one. So, when I made the album, I was thinking about the low-hanging fruits, such as unemployment, crime, and poverty. And I thought about how those things affect the country and how a lot of our cities have the highest crime rates in the whole continent. And that’s not something to be proud of, but it’s a conversation to be had. Like, why do we look like this as a country and what can be done? By creating this album, it was my way of putting a mirror in front of the average South African as a reality check and as a way to start a positive conversation with a good mindset on finding a way forward,” he said.
K.O | SUPPLIED
The “Let Me Cook” star shared his feelings about the relative state of lull of the hip-hop space, expressing that the Mzansi way of translating the artform could be more effective if the people were spoken to and represented more in the songwriting and original stories.
“I personally feel like the state of hip-hop in South Africa can be greater, especially when considering the components of authenticity and speaking to the people. Joining in on their conversation when creating new stuff. That’s how and why amapiano music usually makes such a deep impact, and the same goes for all the other genres that have been successful. Even when hip-hop hit its highs, it was because we were talking to people and we were bringing them in through the messaging. So, I think we do need to stick to the basics and what works,” he said.
K.O | SUPPLIED
There comes a time in an artist’s career where they ossify, reaching a stage of stagnation where the artistry becomes repetitive at best and backward-facing in the worst cases. With a catalogue which has withstood the test of time and a pressure-proven run in the game, K.O spoke about how crucial it has been for him to remain humble enough to be a student of the game, and even going as far as giving the younger cats props for chiseling his skills.
“It’s important to remain a student to the movement as well as to everything that happens in and around the culture and embracing new things along the way. Because in as much as I can admit that we need to be authentic in rap, there are still young guys in the game doing incredible stuff, like Maglera Doe Boy and Tony Dayimane, among others. So for me, it has been important to learn from the newer guys who are doing it right for my own personal growth. That’s one of the things I do to always stay on top of things,” he said.
Preview Phara City below:
